Cracow Indological Studies (CIS) founded in 1995 by Marzenna Czerniak-Drożdżowicz, Iwona Milewska, Lidia Sudyka and Cezary Galewicz is an open-access periodical currently edited at the Department of Languages and Cultures of India and South Asia (Institute of Oriental Studies, Jagiellonian University, Cracow). The CIS volumes are published twice a year in English, covering various areas and contexts of South Asian studies ranging from purely literary issues to those present in texts in different Indian languages contributing to the history, philosophy, aesthetics, art and religion of the Indian Subcontinent, with the main focus on India.
Patterns of Substitution in the Zoroastrian Sanskrit Translation of Ogamadecā
This study examines the Sanskrit translation of a text designated in the target language as Ogamadecā. The original Middle Persian text was based on selected quotations from Avesta with its title derived from the first word: aogəmadaēcā ‘and we pronounce’. The result is a multi-layered document of intertwined grammar, vocabulary and syntax drawing from Indian and Iranian heritage. The analysis centers on systematic deviations from Pāṇini’s grammatical framework, with particular emphasis on substitution, a foundational principle in Aṣṭādhyāyī and a key mechanism in Pāṇinian linguistics. The methodological approach adopted here foregrounds phonological, morphological, and syntactic irregularities within the translation, thereby elucidating characteristic features of Parsi Sanskrit renderings. The structural clarity inherent in Pāṇini’s system is juxtaposed with examples drawn from Ogamadecā, accompanied by detailed commentary on the violated rules. This comparative perspective advances our understanding of Zoroastrian Sanskrit translations within their broader linguistic, cultural, and religious conditions, contributing to the study of Indo-Iranian textual transmission and the adaptation of classical grammatical norms in Zoroastrian setting.
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The Reception of Indian Grammatical Tradition in the Indo-European Linguistics
This paper examines the reception and impact of the Indian grammatical tradition, especially of Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī, on the development of Indo-European linguistics. While Pāṇini’s grammar was initially introduced to Europe in the context of Sanskrit studies, its methodological precision and systematic character influenced comparative and historical linguistics more broadly. After sketching European scholars’ early encounters with the Indian grammatical tradition, the paper focuses on two main areas of reception: the concept of the root and its role in morphological analysis, and the problem of Ablaut and its reinterpretation in light of Indo-European reconstruction, culminating in the laryngeal theory.
Kumārila’s Engagements with the Pāṇiniyas—Towards any Future Study of Vyākaraṇa’s Presence in Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṃsā
Kumārila-bhaṭṭa might be treated as an exemplary student of the paradigmatic Brahmanical śāstras. He represented Mīmāṃsā tradition of Vedic ritual exegesis, and for doctrinal reasons heavily relied on its two main fellow branches of knowledge: Vyākaraṇa and Dharmaśāstra. In both the fields he proved to be an important commentator, but it is the former which really informed much of his oeuvre. In the article I trace the main directions of Kumārila’s references to the grammatical tradition and its personal authorities, with particular interest to those preceding Patañjali’s Mahābhāṣya which on the other hand seems to be one of the most influential inspirations for Kumārila’s discussions.
When Poetic Usage Becomes Normative: On the Interpretation of A 1.3.37
This article examines the interpretation of A 1.3.37 in light of an apparent irregularity in the Kirātārjunīya, a major epic poem in Sanskrit. It traces how commentators sought to reconcile the grammatical rule with the poetic usage, often by restricting the scope of the sūtra rather than treating the verse as anomalous. The case study illustrates how the interaction between grammatical description and literary practice shaped the interpretative history of a Pāṇinian rule.
The Siddhāntakaumudī of Bhaṭṭoji Dīkṣita and the kaumudīs of Varadarāja were normally used as primers to introduce the Indian students to the vyākaraṇa science. Nevertheless, as times passed, Sanskrit became less practiced, and these grammatical works began to be considered as too difficult. For this reason, new handbooks have been created during the 20th century, both in other vernacular languages—such as in Hindī —and in a simpler contemporary Sanskrit, including the Laghupāṇinīyam by Rājarājavarma.
Why Does the Tradition Approach the Aṣṭādhyāyī the Way It Does? Some Methodological Reflections about Pāṇinian Studies
This article starts by summarizing my doctoral work in the field of Pāṇinian studies and uses the same as a pivot to ask the following questions: What kinds of methods, approaches, lenses, and loci have the tradition and subsequently modern scholarship been using thus far to examine Pāṇini’s grammar? What are the advantages and disadvantages of adopting these practices and perspectives? In particular, it seeks to tease out the cultural factors and intellectual attitudes that underlie the methods employed to study Pāṇini’s grammar. It dwells on the role of paribhāṣā literature and jñāpakas, ideas about respect and hierarchy, especially vis-à-vis Pāṇini, Kātyāyana, and Patañjali, commentators’ ways of disagreeing with the author, and the prizing of memorization and complexity in the Indian tradition. It then expounds on the relationship between the past, present, and future of the Pāṇinian tradition. Finally, it outlines the overall outlook of Pāṇinian studies as a discipline and argues that a change in the same will entail better learning outcomes for students.
The Rejection of the Variationist System: How Commentators Interpreted Pāṇini’s General Rule on taddhita-derivations
On the basis of Bhate 1989 and Pontillo 2013, A 2.1.1 is assumed to create a variationist system between the phrase mentioned or hinted at in the wording of the single formation rule used to teach taddhitas and the output of the rule itself. This variationist system is hierarchically superordinate to other single optionality phenomena taught by vā, vibhāṣā, anyatarasyām. The present paper aims to understand how this variationist system, which is consequently introduced by A 4.1.82 samarthānām pathamād vā, was rejected by commentators from Patañjali onwards by resorting to a morphologically oriented reading of A 4.1.82.
Pāṇini’s Semantic Hierarchy, or How to Remove the Commentarial Dust from A 2.3.15
In the Indian grammatical tradition, the semantic values ascribed by Pāṇini to the infinitival suffix -tum (notably, ‘agent’, ‘purpose’, ‘future’) were disputed by his commentators. In particular, Patañjali argued that-tum denotes ‘action’ (bhāva-) instead of ‘agent’. In the present contribution I provide fresh evidence in favor of Pāṇini’s original account of the semantic values of -tum. I also show how the issue of determining the denotation of -tum, far from being the purview of a handful of erudite historians of linguistics, reveals a fine-grained theory of argument structure—with several hierarchically organized meaning components—that can fruitfully interact with, even inform, the modern language sciences.
Remarks on Negation through the Ages or How Should We Look at Sanskrit Grammatical Tradition?
The tradition of Sanskrit grammatical school is viewed as having three founding fathers: Pāṇini, Kātyāyana and Patañjali, the latter of whom was given the position of the highest authority. Patañjali’s interpretation of Pāṇini’s grammar was supposed to be final, infallible and became a go-to in the following centuries. There are numerous instances, however, where Patañjali’s interpretation of Pāṇini’s rules is far from perfect and complicates, rather than simplifying, described procedures. These interpretations are further modified as the school of Vyākaraṇa develops under the influence of other philosophical trends. This article discusses selected examples of the phenomenon of negation to demonstrate the evolution in their explications over the centuries in the school of Vyākaraṇa. It attempts to answer the question whether we should, and can, look at Pāṇinian tradition as a whole; whether these different interpretations should be viewed as mistakes or innovations and a sign of independent thinking.
The order in which rules are applied in Pāṇinian derivations was traditionally explained by four main principles: (a) the order of enumeration in the grammar para ‘later’ > p¯urva ‘earlier’, (b) constituent structure: antara˙nga ‘internal’ > bahira˙nga ‘external’, (c) the interaction of operations: nitya ‘persistent’ > anitya ‘non-persistent’, (d) generality: apavāda ‘exception’> utsarga ‘general case’. Modern Panini interpretatation has much reduced the role of (a) and (b). The theory developed by S. D. Joshi and his collaborators relies on generalized versions of (c) and (d), respectively called the siddha-principle and generalized blocking. Rajpopat (2025) proposes a different version of generalized blocking, and replaces (c) by a completely new principle. I argue that (1) Rajpopat’s version of generalized blocking is ill-defined, (2) his new principle yields the wrong results in a large class of cases, (3) his criticism of the Joshi approach is misguided, and (4) a Joshitype approach accounts both for the cases that Rajpopat’s theory gets right and for the cases that it does not get right. I conclude with an argument that the Aṣṭādhyāyī and the Prātiśākhyas follow exactly the same basic approach, and that the vast differences between their analyses are the result of their different scope.
The present paper proposes to analyse the arguments contained in the Apāṇinīyaprāmāṇyasādhana of Melputtūr Nārāyaṇa Bhaṭṭa, the scholar poet of Kerala, challenging the orthodox view that the field of Sanskrit grammar is basically trimuni or confined to the discourses of the three sages, namely Pāṇini, Kātyāyana and Patañjali. Nārāyaṇa Bhaṭṭa’s work is a short monograph written in the format of a letter addressed to Vainateya, a grammarian from Cola country, who could not digest the liberties taken by the author with Pāṇinian grammar in Prakriyāsarvasva, his earlier work. It appears that another scholar, called Sudarśana, seemed to uphold Nārāyaṇa Bhaṭṭa’s views. This raging controversy prompted Nārāyaṇa Bhaṭṭa to write Apāṇinīyaprāmāṇyasādhana. In this work, he demonstrates that there is no valid proof to warrant the view that alternate systems propounded by scholars like Candragomin and Bhoja are non-authoritative. He argues that though the Pāṇinian grammar is universally accepted because of its inherent qualities, it does not follow that other systems are worthless as Pāṇini himself refers to other, earlier authorities. Therefore, in true democratic spirit and upholding a pluralistic view of language and grammar, he maintains that if there is some contradiction between Pāṇini and others on specific points, it would be ideal to take these principles as optional. He points out that great authorities like Vyāsa, Śaṅkarācārya and Vidyāraṇya, and poets like Murāri, Sureśvara and Śrīharṣa have occasionally used un-Pāṇinian forms. Thus, through this short treatise, Nārāyaṇa Bhaṭṭa demonstrates that he is a progressive grammarian who accepts accretions and modifications in tradition as language is bound to undergo change. This exchange of views raises interesting questions such as: (i) Is language a monolith to be locked in a specific grammatical system? (ii) Are the innovations inherent in linguistic growth to be denied validity?
Constructing and Deconstructing Pāṇini’s Grammar
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This article considers the relationships between poetry, comportment, and performativity in early-19th century Rajput courts. I argue that in their historical and textual representations, court intellectuals fashioned kings’ poetic bodies, which coded their behaviour through literary conventions—drawn from Sanskrit and Hindi poetics and more local traditions of Rajasthan—and modelled refined, aesthetically nuanced dispositions for later rulers. I foreground these intellectuals’ interest in pleasure and play, and underline the significance of sexuality and embodiment in their accounts. My focus is on the Jayavaṁśa mahākāvya, which narrates the lives, reigns, and passions of the rulers of Amer-Jaipur. The text was first written in Sanskrit, and then re-interpreted in Hindi prose, and I suggest this vernacular interpretation speaks to an evolving understanding of kingship in the colonial period.
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This article explores the cultural and literary significance of Calligonum polygonoides, locally known as phog, an endemic shrub of Rajasthan’s Thar Desert. The subject of analysis is the poem, Phog ikīsī, by a contemporary Rajasthani poet Girdhardān Ratnū (b. 1970), which serves as a lens to examine the broader cultural landscapes of Rajasthan. The poem bridges tradition and modernity, employing the literary form of Marwari known as Dingal. Through a close reading of this work, the article reveals the enduring connection between people and their environment, highlighting the ecological and cultural consciousness embedded in local literary traditions. Ultimately, the analysis argues that Phog ikīsī expresses a profound sense of Rajasthani identity (Rajasthani-ness) and affirms the value of locality.
This article explores Shivaji’s use of Braj Bhasha poetry to construct and assert his identity in the furtherance of his royal consecration and realisation of his geopolitical ambitions. Departing from the cultural environment of Deccani sultanates with their established patronage of Dakani and Persian, Shivaji employed Braj to appeal to Hindu aristocracy, most notably Rajput chiefs, linking himself genealogically to the Sisodia Rajputs. Śivrājbhūṣaṇ, poetical treatise commissioned by him, blends indigenous Hindu themes with Persianate royal imagery, reflecting complex political and cultural strategy to claim legitimacy and imperial status. Drawing on Dirk Kolff’s hypothesis on warrior identities (1990), the article attempts to consider Shivaji’s Rajput affiliation as both pragmatic and indicative of flexible social identities shaped by military alliances. The study situates one of Shivaji’s literary and political endeavours within a broader tradition of Braj Bhasha literary cultivation in the Deccan, tracing its origins to Shivaji’s father, Shahaji, and poets such as Cintāmaṇi Tripāṭhī. This transregional literary engagement reinforced Shivaji’s royal authority and positioned him within the competing cultural landscapes of early modern India.
This paper looks at the performativity of Rajput kingship, taking up the case study of the Rathor house of Kishangarh. Studying historical cases of legitimation and illegitimation from the first half of the 18th century, it argues that affect and emotions played an important role in the process. Specifically, different players challenged and asserted power positions through multi-medial mobilization of “myth” integrated with evocation of different moods against the background of sacred time and space. In this process, gender played an important role, as female divinities and palace women were involved both as objects in the males’ royal displays, but also with room for an agency of their own.
The Portrayal of Maharaja Jaswant Singh I and his Philosophical Activities in the Posterior Literary and Historical Sources
In the geopolitical landscape of the 17th-century North India, Jaswant Singh I of Marwar (r. 1638–1678) was an influent political figure, close to the imperial Mughal court. Viewed from the cultural perspective, he was well-known as the author of scholarly works on Vedānta, the aspect of his intellectual activity understudied to this day. Current paper intends to examine how his philosophical and intellectual endeavors were portrayed in the later dynastic sources. With this in mind, I first consider the portrayal of Jaswant Singh in the Sūraj prakās, text composed by Kaviyā Karṇīdān, the court poet of Maharaja Abhai Singh Rathor (r. 1724–49). Thereafter, I analyse one of the poems on the royal lineage from among those penned by the Nāths during the reign of Maharaja Man Singh Rathor (r. 1803–43). My investigation suggests that rather than transmitting a univocal image of Jaswant Singh as the protector of a well-defined Hindu dharma, the philosophical and religious elements in Jaswant Singh’s later portrayals respond to the diverse agendas of their authors, bringing to light multiple historical representations of the Rajput ruler.
This essay examines the tales (kathās) of the Kyāmkhānī poet, Jān Kavi (fl. 1614–1664) in order to explore the historical process through which a Rajput great tradition took shape in Mughal times. Firmly situated within the genre conventions of earlier Sufi love tales that emerged from the Avadh region, the Mughal-era Braj Bhasha kathās present an archetype of the emperor-minister ideal in imaginary narratives, juxtaposing it with historical accounts rooted in Islamicate and Mughal-Rajput models. The tales illustrate how, during the centralization of power under the Mughal emperor and the allied Rajput kings, the fraught Rajput world is idealized, and infused with a heightened sense of self and honour. By situating the Kyāmkhānīs within the Mughal state and the kathās within their genre conventions, Jān Kavi articulates the ethics of loyalty, service, and kinship in an upwardly mobile ruling family.
The Paradigm of Light in the Hindu-Muslim Religious Culture of Rajasthan
Nizārī Ismailism was a major strand in the fluid religious culture of Rajasthan and its periphery. D. S. Khan (1997) submitted the hypothesis that it also helped shape sects of nirguṇa bhakti, such as the Dādūpanth, which emerged as late as the 16th century. The article tests the case of this sect by a textual study focusing on the paradigm of light in the thought of Dādū and his disciples and related to the same paradigm elsewhere in the regional religious landscape. Dādū’s bhakti beyond the Hindu-Muslim divide was characterized by the impulse it received from Sufism, conspicuously at a time when Nizārī Ismailism itself had been impacted by this for about three centuries.
Studies in Literary and Cultural Landscapes of Rajasthan
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Poetry on Combat for Secularism and Democracy
The tragic events that followed the demolition of Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992 in Ayodhya were the culmination of a conflict simmering for almost the entire period of independent India, especially after the 1980s, striking at democracy and secularism, two values on which independent India was built. The Hindi literary world did not remain silent to these developments. However, the literary output that emerged on the subject during this time, though largely known and studied from the perspective of communal conflict and politics, has not been explored in the context of bearing witness by the literary community—their specific gaze as a witness. This article attempts to fill this gap by looking at two poetry collections, Apnī zabān, and Yah aisā samay hai, edited by Asad Zaidī and Viṣṇu Nāgar, and published by SAHMAT in 1994. It offers a contextualised analysis of the creative expression offered by poets acting in defence of a democratic, secular state.
Copyright (c) 2025 Danuta Stasik https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The article introduces and analyses selected Sanskrit poems composed by Harshdev Madhav (b. 20.10.1954 in Vartej, Gujarat), a re- nowned Indian poet honoured in 2006 with the Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit. The compositions in question reveal the directions in which modern Sanskrit poetry is hoping to proceed: break with literary norms es- tablished by the rhetoricians of classical literature; exploration of contem- porary themes and motifs; and introduction of new literary forms in Sanskrit writings. Analysis of Madhav’s free verses, haikus, typographic poems, and other compositions focused on the theme of violence shows how the lan- guage often considered ‘dead’ can become a medium for poetry—endowed with ingenuity and modernity—which tackles problems of interest to the contemporary readers.
Copyright (c) 2025 Hermina Cielas Leão https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Indigenous People, Environmental Issues and a Reinterpretation of the Indian Epic Tradition in the Bengali Short Story A Bird’s Mother (Pākhir Mā) by Sunil Gangopadhyay
This paper deals with the Bengali short story A Bird’s Mother (Pākhir Mā) by Sunil Gangopadhyay (1934–2012). First published in 1964, the story must have been inspired by the recent mass attacks on the indigenous Lodha ethnic group in the Midnapore district of West Bengal and P. K. Bhowmick’s seminal book The Lodhas of West Bengal: A Socio-Economic Study (1963), as well as news about the degradation of Midnapore’s sal forests and the declining numbers of Siberian cranes wintering in India. Combining social and environmental concerns, the story shows how complex interactions between wildlife, indigenous people and agricultural communities can lead to conflict and aggression. The paper analyses the story in detail, focusing on the strategies used by the author to explain attitudes towards indigenous people in rural India. The paper also suggests that the story may be read as a modern reinterpretation of the krauñca-vadha episode from the Rāmāyaṇa.
Copyright (c) 2025 Anna Trynkowska https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Rural Violence and Warfare in Medieval South India
This paper explores the problem of rural violence in medieval South India through a study of hero-stones collected from the districts of lower Karnataka between the 9th and 13th centuries. These documents reveal a world of everyday violence in which the countryside emerges as a space of potentially open-ended belligerence, and the peasant an armed agent. Furthermore, hero-stone inscriptions suggest that localized rural violence was continuous with, and only partly distinct from, what historians often characterized separately as ‘state violence,’ and in fact existed in a heuristically ‘intermediate realm,’ a point that has serious implications for understanding the nature of state, society and conflict in medieval South India more generally.
Copyright (c) 2025 Daud Ali https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Copyright (c) 2025 Monika Browarczyk, Martin Hříbek, Lidia Sudyka https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0